Method for manufacturing a protective cover for a reinforcing bar

ABSTRACT

A protective cover for concrete reinforcement bars includes an elongated cylindrical collar for securing the protective cover to an exposed end of a concrete reinforcing bar, a cap which is perpendicularly attached to the collar by reinforcing ribs, and a metal seat arranged between the collar and the cap and having slots for permitting direct attachment of the reinforcing ribs from the collar to the cap.

This application is a division of application Ser. No. 08/245,018 filedMay 18, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,636.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a protective cover for projecting endsof rods and more particularly, to a protective cover used duringconstruction for placement over the projecting ends of steel reinforcingbars.

2. Description of the Related Art

Typically, concrete structures, such as an office building or a highwayoverpass, include steel reinforcing bars which are placed withinconcrete forms prior to pouring the concrete. During construction, thesesteel reinforcing bars, which often are oriented in both horizontal andvertical directions, pose a safety hazard. For example, workers at gradelevel may be stabbed or gouged by the exposed ends of the reinforcingbars. More unfortunately, workers above grade, such as on scaffolding,may fall and become impaled on top of vertically-rising reinforcingbars.

In an attempt to reduce injury to workers, conventional safety caps,such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,378, have beendesigned to protect workers from being scraped or stabbed by theprojecting ends of reinforcing bars. However, because of the greaterforces involved when a worker falls onto vertically-rising reinforcementbars, conventional safety caps do not prevent a falling worker frombeing impaled on a reinforcing bar, or on the cap and bar itself. Thatis, conventional safety caps were designed only to prevent a worker frombeing scratched or stabbed by the sharp ends of the projectingreinforcing bar.

Realizing the dangers presented by exposed ends of reinforcing bars at aconstruction site and realizing that conventional safety caps do notprevent a worker from being impaled, both federal and state divisions ofthe Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (OSHA) have recentlyproposed new safety standards requiring the use of protective covers forcovering the exposed ends of reinforcing steel bars so as to preventinjury and impalement. The proposed standard provides that workersworking at grade, above grade, or at any surface and exposed toreinforcing steel or other projections shall be protected against thehazard of impalement by guarding the exposed protruding end of thereinforcing bar with a protective cover. The OSHA standard requires thatthe protective cover be made of wood, plastic, or any similar material,and should be capable of withstanding, at a minimum, the impact of a250-pound weight dropped from a height of 10 feet without penetrationfailure of the cover, and that the surface area of the protective covershall be a minimum of a 4"×4"-square surface area. This proposed OSHAstandard for protective covers is believed to provide substantialprotection for workers at a construction site. Heretofore, conventionalsafety caps do not meet the new OSHA standard.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a protective cover which is adapted tocover the exposed ends of concrete reinforcing bars or other projectionsso as to prevent impalement and which is believed to meet both presentand proposed OSHA standards for protective covers. According to theinvention, the improved protective cover comprises an elongatedcylindrical collar for securing the cover to the exposed end of aconcrete reinforcing bar, a cap which is perpendicularly attached to thecollar by reinforcing ribs, and a metal seat for seating against the endof the reinforcing bar and which is arranged between the collar and thecap. The metal seat has slot-shaped cut-out regions for permittingdirect attachment of the reinforcing ribs from the collar to the cap.

Advantageously, the protective cover of the present invention not onlyprovides workers with protection from being stabbed or gouged by anexposed end of a reinforcing bar, but also provides protection fromimpalement on a reinforcing bar. Specifically, since the protectivecover includes a metal seat which seats against the reinforcing bar, theimpact of a worker falling on the protective cover will not cause apenetration failure of the cover. In addition, since the protectivecover is integrally formed around the metal seat, the cap and collarwill not separate causing a penetration failure of the protective cover.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a bottom perspective view of the protective cover of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the protective cover;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the protective cover;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the metal seat which has slot-shaped cut-outregions for preventing direct attachment to the reinforcement ribs ofthe protective cover;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal section of the protective cover taken alongline 5--5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the protective cover according tothe present invention as shown in use on a reinforcing bar; and

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the protective cover according toan alternative embodiment of the present invention in use on areinforcing bar.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The protective cover of the present invention is believed to meet bothcurrent OSHA standards as well as proposed OSHA standards relating toprotective covers for reinforcing bars.

FIG. 1 is a bottom perspective view of protective cover 1. Protectivecover 1 comprises an integrally formed cap-and-collar assembly 2 whichis injection-molded around metal seat 6. Cap-and-collar assembly 2includes collar section 3 and cap section 4. Cap-and-collar assembly 2is preferably made out of a resiliently-deformable, plastic materialsuch as heavy-duty polyethylene plastic. The material used for cap andcollar assembly 2 preferably should be brightly colored so that it canbe readily seen when in use on a reinforcing bar.

As shown in FIG. 1, collar section 3 has open end 5 for receiving thereinforcing bar. Collar section 3 includes inwardly extending andoff-center fins 7 which secure the reinforcing bar (not shown) to theprotective cover 1. Fins 7 flex outwardly so as to accommodatereinforcing bars of varying sizes, and fins 7 are set off-center so asto facilitate installation on the bars with a twisting motion.

FIG. 2 is a top side perspective view of protective cover 1. As shown inFIG. 2, cap section 4 has a flat squared surface having rounded edges.The dimensions of cap section 4 are designed to meet the proposed OSHAstandard for protective covers and, preferably, the cap has a4"×4"-square surface area. As noted previously, collar section 3 and capsection 4 preferably are made from the same material, such asresiliently deformable plastic material which is brightly colored.

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of protective cover 1. As shown in FIG. 3,eight radially-extending reinforcing ribs 10 circle collar section 3.Reinforcing ribs 10 not only provide connectivity between collar section3 and cap section 4, but also provide rigidity and structural integrityfor cap-and-collar assembly 2. The effect of reinforcing ribs 10prevents collar section 3 from separating from cap section 4 when a loadis dropped or placed against cap section 4, for example, a loadequivalent to the impact of a person striking against the protectivecover. Preferably, reinforcing ribs 10 are integrally formed, such as byinjection molding, from a single material with collar section 3 and capsection 4. In this fashion, metal seat 6 can be integrally moldedbetween collar section 3, cap section 4, and reinforcing ribs 10.

FIG. 4 is a front view of metal seat 6. As shown in FIG. 4, metal seat 6includes cut-out slots 12 which permit reinforcing ribs 10 to pass fromcap section 4 to collar section 3. Metal seat 6 also includes mountingholes 14 which are used for proper alignment of metal seat 6 within aninjection mold. Metal seat 6 should be made from a rigid metal materialand should have an appropriate thickness that would prevent penetrationof the reinforcing bar through the cover when impacted with a 250 poundweight dropped from a height of 10 feet. Preferably, metal seat 6 is 1/8inches thick and is manufactured from hot-rolled A36 steel.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross-section of protective cover 1 taken alongline 5--5 of FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 5, metal seat 6 is placed at thedistal end of collar section 3 at the point at which collar section 3meets cap section 4. In this manner, when the reinforcing bar is placedin the open end 5 of collar section 3, it will abut against metal seat6.

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of theprotective cover in accordance with the present invention. As shown inFIG. 6 and as discussed above with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2, protectivecover 1 has a flat square surface. Also shown in FIG. 6 is the preferredmanner of mounting protective cover 1 onto a reinforcing bar.

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of protective cover 1 according to analternative embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, capsection 4 of protective cover 1 has a mushroom or semi-circular surfacearea 16.

A method for manufacturing protective cover 1 will now be described.Protective cover 1 is manufactured by an injection molding process.However, prior to performing the injection molding, metal seat 6 isplaced into an injection mold. Metal seat 6 is properly aligned andfixed within the mold by aligning mounting holes 14 on mounting pinswithin the mold once the metal seat 6 is properly affixed in the mold,the mold is sealed and molten plastic is injected into the mold via aninjection inlet. After the plastic has cooled, the mold is separated andprotective cover 1 is removed.

In operation, when protective cap 1 is placed over a reinforcing bar,the reinforcing bar enters open end 5 of collar section 3. Collarsection 3 receives the end of the reinforcing bar and the inwardlyextending and off-center fins 7 spread apart so as to accommodate and tosecure the bar to protective cover 1. Protective cover 1 is pressedfirmly downward onto the bar until the bar is seated against metal seat6. Fins 7 detachably retain the reinforcing bar within protective cover1 until such time that the protective cover has served its purpose. Atsuch time, protective cover 1 can be removed from the reinforcing bar bypulling in an upward direction away from the reinforcing bar.

In the case that a worker comes in contact with the protective cover,the load or force against the protective cover will be distributedthrough cap section 4 and metal seat 6 directly to the reinforcing bar.On the other hand, if an off-center load or force impacts the cover, theload will be distributed from cap section 4 to metal seat 6 andreinforcing ribs 10 to collar section 3. The foregoing design prevents apenetration failure as well as a failure due to the load or forceshearing-off cap 4 from collar section 3.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for manufacturing a protective cover,which includes an integrally-formed cap, collar and reinforcing ribs,for placement on an exposed end of a reinforcing bar, the methodcomprising the steps of:positioning a seat, having slots for receivingthe reinforcing ribs, for abutting against an exposed end of areinforcing bar, in an injection mold; sealing the mold containing theseat; injecting a molten material into the mold, wherein the step ofinjecting includes integrally forming the cap, the collar, and thereinforcing ribs around the seat such that the reinforcing ribs areformed through the slots and connect the collar to the cap, andintegrally forming within the collar, inwardly extending, outwardlyflexible, off-center fins for grasping an exposed end of reinforcingbars of varying diameter thickness; and extracting, after the moltenmaterial has cooled, from the mold the protective cover.
 2. A method ofmanufacturing a protective cover, which includes an integrally-formedcap, collar and reinforcing ribs, for placement on an exposed end of areinforcing bar, the method comprising the steps of:positioning a seat,having slots for receiving reinforcing ribs and for seating against anexposed end of the reinforcing bar, into an injection mold; sealing themold containing the seat; injecting a molten material into the mold,wherein the step of injecting includes integrally forming the cap andcollar around the seat and integrally forming the reinforcing ribsthrough the slots in the seat into and with the cap and collar; andextracting, after the molten material has cooled, from the mold theprotective cover.
 3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the step ofinjecting further includes the step of forming, within the collar,inwardly extending off-center fins.
 4. A method according to claim 2,wherein the step of injecting further includes the step of forming thecap into a 4"×4" square surface area.
 5. A method according to claim 2wherein the step of injecting further includes the step of forming thecap into a dome-shaped surface.